08 May 2012 11:40 AM

Funding elderly care: women will judge the coalition government on whether they cared

Back in early November 2011, Merkel and Sarkozy (those were the days) and Cameron met in Cannes to again see if they could find a solution to the disaster still known as the Euro. At the time I suggested how powerful it would be to see those three leaders meeting together on the subject of caring for the elderly. All the governments of Europe, not just ours, are facing an unprecedented crisis on how to pay for the care of our senior citizens. Focusing on that would send the message of ‘This is who we are working for, this is who we value’, and set out a clear vision goes that goes beyond the (yes, all important) economy, and that the economic policies that most of us can't get our heads round are not an end in themselves.

Today, Daniel Martin reports on the letter in the Mail from 78 organisations who are deeply concerned that this month's White Paper (or 'Progress Report') on Social Care will omit the thorny issue of how we pay for it. It is reported that the Treasury are concerned about the associated £1.7bn bill attached and that the coalition is still hoping to obtain a cross-party consensus on the funding of social care, so funding will be left out of the report.

If this is true, then they might as well not publish anything. It would be seriously bad news not just for those needing support and left in uncertainty, but for the Prime Minister too. His political spinners should be telling him that this issue is a top priority. Quite apart from it being a moral imperative, when it comes to the next election every woman will be thinking about the impact of the previous five years on her family. As masters of the home economy, women will have juggled the rising heating costs, food prices and children's expenses and taken a hit on luxuries, leisure and lifestyle. They will have pragmatically adjusted to austerity, knowing that life will have been difficult for many. However women will be also looking at how the government juggled its finances, and what they have prioritised. Jobs will be one factor, but the other will be provision for older relatives.

It has never been about finding all the money, it is about ending the uncertainty and unfairness. When Tony Blair proclaimed 15 years ago that “I don’t want [our children] brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home,” it was important. Now it is urgent. The proportion of people in the population over the age of 80 is rising every year. Wanless in his second report of nearly a decade ago projected that between 2005 and 2025 there would be an increase in demand for elderly care of 54%, so we are more than half way there.

Not everyone needs social care, but the very premise that led to the founding of the NHS - to remove fear and uncertainty - is now at stake. We need the reassurance that our granny or uncle will not be chucked out of their home, even if we reluctantly have to accept that some of the equity will have to be released to pay for their care. And we need to know that when we can't get in to see grandpa, there is a carer visiting to do all the necessary - not just urgent - tasks that he needs in order to live safely and in dignity. The Prime Minister has an opportunity here: carefully and sensitively setting out a funding strategy would not only be the right thing, it could also be a vote winner.

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JULIA MANNING

Julia studied visual science at City University and became a member of the College of Optometrists in 1991. Her career has included being a visiting lecturer in at City University, visiting clinician at the Royal Free Hospital, working with Primary Care Trusts and a Director of the UK Institute of Optometry. She also specialised in diabetes and founded Julia Manning Eyecare, a practice for people with mental and physical disabilities. In 2006 she established 2020health.org, an independent Think Tank for Health and Technology. Research publications have covered public health, telehealth, workability, pricing of medicines, biotechology, NHS reform and fraud.